Shares of Salesforce (CRM) gained in after-hours trading after the software firm reported earnings for its second quarter of Fiscal Year 2025. Earnings per share came in at $2.56, which beat analysts’ consensus estimate of $2.35 per share. In addition, sales increased by 8.5% year-over-year, with revenue hitting $9.33 billion. This beat analysts’ expectations of $9.234 billion.
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Looking forward, management now expects revenue for FY 2025 to be between $37.7 billion and $38 billion, with a non-GAAP operating margin of 32.8%. For reference, analysts were expecting $37.85 billion in revenue.
Salesforce Returns Money to Shareholders
During the second quarter, Salesforce returned $4.7 billion to shareholders. Dividends made up $400 million, while buybacks made up the remaining $4.3 billion. The firm has regularly repurchased its shares each quarter since October 2022 (as demonstrated in the image below).
Is CRM a Good Stock to Buy Now?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on CRM stock based on 28 Buys, 10 Holds, and one Sell assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 23% rally in its share price over the past year, the average CRM price target of $296.74 per share implies 12.32% upside potential. However, it’s worth noting that estimates will likely change following today’s earnings report.
